"How does the US really compare on firearms? The world's crime figures are collected by the UNODC through its annual crime survey. It has a special section of data on firearm homicides - and provides detailed information by size of population and compared to other crimes...

The key facts are:

• The US has the highest gun ownership rate in the world - an average of 88 per 100 people. That puts it first in the world for gun ownership - and even the number two country, Yemen, has significantly fewer - 54.8 per 100 people• But the US does not have the worst firearm murder rate - that prize belongs to Honduras, El Salvador and Jamaica. In fact, the US is number 28, with a rate of 2.97 per 100,000 people• Puerto Rico tops the world's table for firearms murders as a percentage of all homicides - 94.8%. It's followed by Sierra Leone in Africa and Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean."

Note column 3, for year 2007, Homicide rate per 100,000 population in each country by firearms. The across the board evidence here provides a stable comparason, ex. USA 2.97 compared to England and Wales 0.07, approx. 30 x higher for USA. Other countries are higher, but these countries are unstable, not governed consistently, hot spots or at war.